Moscow says regions must privatize companies
Russian Finance Minister Sergei Kudrin says regions will not be allowed to get additional federal transfers before they privatize regional companies.
-Many regions hold stakes in very significant companies, and still come asking us for money, Kudrin said at a financial forum this week. He calls on the regions to sell their company stakes, Newsru.com reports.
Before getting additional federal funding, the regions should first present privatization programmes, mobilize this resource and only then approach the Ministry of Finance, Kudrin underlined.
Federal authorities are currently engaging is a major privatization programme. In the course of the next three years, the state will sell out of as many as 850 companies, Newsru.com reports with reference to Interfax. Among them is a number of big companies like Rosneft, Sovcomflot and the Russian Railways.
According to newspaper Vedomosti, the federal government also considers to swap the most significant company stakes with stakes in foreign companies.
As reported by BarentsObserver, several key companies also in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Oblasts will be subjected to privatization.
Read also: State sells out of Murmansk companies
